Love at First Novel by Gu Lingfei

Kathryn had fought back.

At first, when her adoptive brothers beat her, she resisted with everything she had.

They were older and stronger, but she refused to go down without a fight. She threw anything she could get her hands on at them.

One time, she even grabbed a hatchet and chased them across the village.

They were terrified.

Even when her adoptive mother tried to punish her on their behalf, Kathryn didn't back down-she raised the hatchet and swung at her, too.

Her defiance finally shocked them into submission.

After that, they never dared to lay a hand on her again.

But she still had to live in that house, relying on them for food and shelter. The abuse didn't stop-it just took different forms. She was always hungry, always cold, never given decent clothes or a proper place to sleep.

And her adoptive father, the man who had brought her into that family, never once stepped in. He never defended her.

Kathryn hated him the most.

he later

the truth-her biological mother had

No sympathy, no pity. If anything, she thought death

Farrell family, her adoptive mother and brothers tried to latch onto

drain

gave them

the Farrells, she had already built a

had kept it a secret from her adoptive family. She

tormented her for years-why should she

She wasn't a saint.

his heart aching. "Miss, none of that will ever happen again." Then he stood up, grabbed some ice, and carefully pressed it against her

down a lot," he

been beaten, her face

a night of Pedro tending to her with ice packs, the redness

Annenburg? It doesn't get too cold there, but summer lasts forever-seven or eight months of

too hot, we can turn on the air conditioner. But the cold?

she had endured

to suffer from frostbite every

she built her business and became wealthy that she

got frostbite